KUMHO DECLARES OPENING ROUND OF TCR WORLD TOUR A SUCCESS
Global tyre company, Kumho has declared the opening rounds of the Kumho TCR World Tour, and the first races using Kumho as the control tyre a success with close racing and strong data returns for Kumho engineers.
The opening round of the Kumho TCR World Tour were held at the challenging Algarve International Circuit in Portugal on 29-30 April at the start of the series, that will conclude with the final two rounds in Australia at Sydney Motorsport Park and Mt Panorama at Bathurst on successive weekends in November.
Kumho Tyre signed on as the exclusive tyre sponsor and official partner of the TCR World Tour in February in a three-year title sponsorship deal with World Sporting Consulting Group (WSC) which manages and runs the TCR World Tour.
The Kumho TCR World Tour features many of the world’s prestigious car manufacturers including Audi, Honda, Hyundai, Kia, Peugeot, Renault, Alfa Romeo, Cupra and new Volvo/Geely owned brand Lynk&Co and is growing stronger with more manufacturers looking to become part of the World Tour.
The Portugese round provided some captivating racing with the Audi RS 3 LMS, Honda Civic Type R, and Hyundai Elantra N vying for the trophy.
All cars competing in the Tour use either the Kumho Ecsta S700 slick tyre for dry track conditions or the Kumho Ecsta W701 wet tyre in rainy conditions.
The opening races were held in conjunction with the TCR Europe series, which Kumho has been the official tyre supplier for since last year.
The challenging Algarve International Circuit was the perfect backdrop to the opening round of the Kumho TCR World Tour with its rollercoaster undulations and acute-angled corners.
Hungarian driver Norbert Michelisz of BRC Hyundai N Squadra Corse team took victory in the opening races and despite relentless challenges he won the opening round and leads the heading to round two at the famed Spa-Francochamps circuit in Belgium at the end of May.
“The challenging setting at the Algarve International Circuit in Portugal gave us an opportunity to showcase the performance of our tyres,” said Janghyuk Yoon (John Yoon), senior vice president of Global Marketing for Kumho Tyre.
“Kumho will continue to reinforce its motorsport marketing activities with the KUMHO TCR World Tour to further emphasise its credentials as a global high-performance tyre maker,” said Janghyuk Yoon.
Following the opening rounds in Portugal and Belgium the Tour will move across seven countries on four continents including Belgium, Italy, Hungary, Uruguay, Argentina, Australia, and Macau.
Kumho started its relationship with TCR sponsoring key national and regional TCR events in Europe in 2020.
This year Kumho added two additional regional TCR series in South America and the Middle East and three national TCR series in Australia, Brazil, and Finland to its portfolio of TCR championships it sponsor and supplies tyres for.